Italy · Flour and Confectionery Products
Cannoli
Cannoli are Sicilian pastries: crisp tubes of fried dough filled with sweet ricotta cream, chocolate and orange zest.
Ingredients
- flour250 g
- sugar30 g
- saltpinch
- lard (or butter)30 g
- egg1
- dry Marsala (or dry white wine)50 ml
- white wine vinegar1 tbsp
- ricotta500 g
- powdered sugar150 g
- vanilla extract1 tsp
- finely chopped bitter chocolate50 g
- zest of 1 orange
- vegetable oil for frying
- chopped pistachios and powdered sugar for decorating
Method
- 1Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the cold lard (or diced cold butter) and knead until crumbs form. Add the egg, Marsala, and vinegar. Knead until smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1 hour.
- 2Roll out the dough thinly (about 2 mm). Cut out circles with a diameter of 10–12 cm. Wrap each circle around a metal cannoli tube, brush the overlapping edge with a little water and press it down firmly, otherwise the tube opens up in the oil.
- 3Pour about 5 cm of oil into a small, deep saucepan and heat it to 180°C. Fry 2–3 tubes at a time until golden and blistered (1–2 minutes). Lift each one out with tongs, wrap it in a kitchen towel and slide the shell off the metal tube while it is still warm, then cool the shells completely.
- 4Drain the ricotta in advance (overnight in the fridge, in cheesecloth). Mix it with the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the chocolate and orange zest.
- 5Fill cooled tubes with cream from a pastry bag. Dip the ends in chopped pistachios. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.